"Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century is an erudite, comprehensive, well-illustrated and witty account of Czech art, design, architecture, literature and music in an era--stretching roughly from Czechoslovakia's creation in 1918 to the end of the second world war--when few in Paris, Berlin, London or even New York would have thought of the Czechs as not being part of western civilisation. . . . [I]n this book [Sayer] has succeeded in bringing back to life a golden avant-garde era that not long ago was in danger of being written out of history altogether."--Tony Barber, Financial Times

"Sayer has written a cultural history chockablock with artists, modernist architecture, manifestos, dark comedies, and broken alliances. . . . It will be valued by those interested in European cultural history during the twentieth century and how modern art was colored by the horrors of the political landscape."--Karen Ackland, ForeWord Reviews

"[T]he book . . . offers an insight into often quite extraordinary life stories connected with Prague as well as their international context."--Marta Filipova, Times Higher Education

"Sayer is a master of his sources: he looks back on a past still within reach, receding from us; he tracks down its threads, from liaison to liaison, from city to city. Can a research professor ever have written a book quite so triumphantly eccentric and persuaded a major academic press to publish it so splendidly?"--Nicolas Rothwell, Australian

"Through both the breadth and depth of his knowledge, Sayer will reward the patient reader; in the surrealist fashion, he focuses on the seemingly mundane details to provide a true biography of Prague."--Kelsey Berry Philpot, Library Journal

"In this erudite, witty and well-illustrated book, Sayer restores Czech avant-garde art between the two world wars to its rightful position at the heart of European culture. A worthy successor to Sayer's much-praised The Coasts of Bohemia."--Financial Times, "Books of the Year So Far" Summer Reading Guide

"A thoroughly engrossing book."--Jim Burns, Northern Review of Books

"Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century is a thoroughly engrossing book. . . . What [Sayer] says makes me wish I'd read a book like his before I went there all those years ago. I think I would have looked around the city with a greater awareness of its qualities."--Jim Burns, Northern Review of Books

"This is a remarkable, unusual and fascinating book. . . . [T]he book brings together fantastic material from history, literature, art, politics, architecture and poetry, giving the readers an incredibly rich and diverse picture of modern Prague."--Michael Lowy, Debatte

"Sixty-two well-chosen illustrations, detailed descriptions, and many extended quotations from sources greatly enliven the book and make the author's argument convincing."--Choice

"A masterful and unforgettable account of a city where an idling flaneur could just as easily be a secret policeman, this book vividly shows why Prague can teach us so much about the twentieth century and what made us who we are."--Czech Literature Portal

"Prague is not, strictly speaking, travel writing but it is, among other things, an excellent example of what travel writing is becoming, if indeed it hasn't already done so. . . . People are no longer so easily satisfied by the mere travel impressions of some outsider much like themselves. Instead they gravitate towards writers who actually have lived not simply in, but inside, a location for an extended period, as one lives inside one's clothes."--George Fetherling, Diplomat and International Canada

"Derek Sayer's meandering dérive through the hall of mirrors of 20th-century European history may prove taxing to the scholar who expects a clearly signposted route, but exhilarating to the intellectual flâneur. . . . Sayer has an admirable eye for (sometimes excruciating) detail; coupled with occasional glimmers of wry humour, this produces an intimate and absorbing experience while slowly, unobtrusively deconstructing the reader's understanding of history. . . . His Prague is woven around the reader slowly and silently, page by page, until we cannot help but be made aware of the final image--neither beautiful nor ugly, but undeniably real."--Esther Galfalvi, Gorse

"Sayer covers much ground in this informative and well-illustrated book and its scope is much larger than the title would suggest. . . . Sayer presents a book that is thoroughly researched, highly informative and covers a range of Prague-related topics. It is recommended for postgraduate students, researchers and scholars with an interest in the history of arts, urban history and the cultural history of inter-war Czechoslovakia in particular."--Andrea Talabér, European Review of History

"Sayer's intimate knowledge of the writers he quotes, his vast erudition and fondness for the various aspects of Prague's history and topography make this book a joy to read. It will appeal to intellectual and cultural historians interested in the overlapping of modernism and modernity as well as those looking for new ways to write about history and place, but it will surely also attract a broader readership."--Claire Morelon, Social History

"Let's hope that the accolades Sayer's book is receiving will help redraw the existing maps of European twentieth-century culture and place Prague not in the political East, but in its centre."--Veronika Ambros, Canadian Slavonic Papers

"A triumph! Sayer's indispensable work is at once magisterial and puckish, authoritative and subversive, intellectually dense and brilliantly accessible."--Michael Beckerman, New York University

"This is a fascinating and brilliantly written narrative that combines elements of literary guide, biography, cultural history, and essay. Writing with warm engagement, and drawing on his detailed knowledge of Czech literature, art, architecture, music, and other fields, Derek Sayer provides a rich picture of a dynamic cultural landscape."--Jindrich Toman, University of Michigan